The incandescence of pride lights the face of MariaMalikov (right), a full-blooded
Yukaghir. Her people, one of the smallest of the Soviet nationalities,total
only about 800. Her three sons (bottom, left to right)-Vladimir,a pilot, Ivan, a
policeman, and Nikolai, a telephone-company worker-were born of a Russianfather.
Such intermarriagehas long been common. All live in Zyryanka, where the
communicationscenter (top) provides a link to the outside world. The town of about
6,000 is on the Kolyma River, an areaonce infamousfor Stalinist-eralaborcamps.
Formerly occupying a vast territory,the Yukaghirs were decimated by invasions
and epidemics, mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries. The remainingfew now
carefully collect and preserve theirfolklore and artifacts.
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